Brown Bag Lunches

Brown Bag Lunches

By Hannan Ben Slimane, Intern

For this weekly article, I’d like to talk about something proper to internal management of Fusion PR, the famous “Brown Bag Lunch.” I know it can sound a bit like a picnic between colleagues but no, nothing related (or almost). First, coming from Paris, the “Brown Bag Lunch” was something new for me. Indeed, coming from France to do my internship in the U.S., this was exactly one of my expectations: discover American business culture.

The “Brown Bag Lunches” are workshops for us interns, where we meet with one Fusionite responsible to discuss and exchange on a topic that may involve Fusion or the public relations industry. For example, a “Brown Bag Lunch” was organized with Allie Tedone, a member of the social media team. The purpose of this lunch was to discuss social media, their issues, but also learn more about the strategy of the agency regarding their presence on various social media platforms.

The initiative of these lunches with each member of Fusion benefits a lot to students as it allows us to better understand the issues facing the company but also to learn more about its activity. The latest organized was about pitching (Pitching 101). At the end of this workshop, we were able to learn first what a pitch is, how is it useful, how to enhance a story, etc. After the theory came practice. Indeed, an exercise has been given to us where we had the opportunity to write our first pitch. I will not hide that I experienced a tiny moment of pride and accomplishment when I wrote my first pitch. This maybe a repetitive task for some but for a first-timer like me, it is something else. I really enjoyed writing the pitch and look forward to practicing more in hopes of becoming a pro.

Let’s go back to the brown bag lunch. Since I never had much experience in public relations (yes, I’m a newbie!), such meetings where we learn about the basics of the industry, the goals and how they are developed, are the key in the learning process. The next workshop is planned is about grammar and spelling! A must-know in PR. Also at the end of every internship at Fusion, a brown bag lunch is set up about cover letters and CV. This enables us to be prepared for the job market with the right skills but also the right tools. I definitely look forward to the upcoming brown bag lunches to learn even more. This may seem logical and silly, but as an intern, we are here to learn.